You've heard it before, but this is the surest way into your account, so be certain that gate is locked. Don't just pick a difficult-to-guess password — make it nearly impossible. Never mind just upper- and lower-case letters and numbers, go for a long one, 12-14 characters.

2. Two steps are better than one

Set up a two-step authentication process, which sends you e-mails or texts whenever you log in. Apple provides this service under My AppleID. Apple will send a code to your phone or other device to punch in before allowing access to the account. That way, a hacker will have to have your phone and that password to get into your iCloud account.

3. Don't put anything on the cloud you don't want others to see

Next to not having nude shots of yourself at all, the next best defence is to at least keep them close to you. While iCloud is set up to put your entire photo stream on the cloud, it's possible to disable it — even for just a few photos. Simply delete them from Photo Stream. They will still be on the original device under Camera Roll. If you delete your photo from iCloud, it doesn't mean it's gone from your original device.

4. Watch your backup

On iCloud, if you've switched on the backup option, there will be an archive of your photos as well. If a hacker gets in, those are also accessible. To prevent photos from being backed up, you can change the settings — Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup.

5. Make sure all your devices are protected

A good way to protect your privacy on the cloud is to protect your devices — the one that's storing the original information, and all others with access. Because all these are now linked, it's important that none are allowed to get into the hands of bad guys who want access to your network. Know where they are, and make sure they're password-protected.